Ludhiana, September 2On the one hand the municipal corporation has been repeatedly claiming it is starved of funds while on the other it has made no effort to recover crores of rupees in outstanding house tax arrears from city residents.

In one of the four MC zones -Zone B - alone, which includes localities like Bhamian, Mundian, Dhandari, Sherpur and Dholewal, the pending house tax dues amount to Rs 12.32 crore. Of this amount, one of the zone’s five blocks (number 30) accounts for Rs 4.80 crore. The figures for blocks 31, 14, 23 and 24 are Rs 2.63 crore, Rs 1.51 crore, Rs 1.51 crore and Rs 1.85 crore, respectively.

Rohit Sabharwal, president of the Council of RTI Activists, who obtained these details under the Right to Information Act, said: “If the MC functions in a transparent manner and without any political interference it can never remain cash starved. Though house tax arrears amounting to crores of rupees have still to be realized the civic body isn’t making any effort to recover them, which is very sad. This money can very well be used for undertaking various development projects in the city”.However, MC joint commissioner PS Ghuman, who has charge of Zone B, claimed the process to recover house tax arrears has already begun. “We will soon issue notices to all the defaulters under sections 137 & 138 of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act. If they fail to deposit the outstanding dues we will attach their properties and later sell them off. I appeal to all those who have house tax dues to pay to clear them themselves, or else we would be compelled to take strict action against them,” he warned.